School board accepts LEP High's appeal to stay open

Portland School Board members today unanimously approved a popular Portland charter school's appeal to stay open.

In March, the board voted to close three-year-old Leadership and Entrepreneurship Public Charter High School by "non-renewing" the school's contract. They applauded the school's program but cited financial problems.

Since then, the school community has worked to raise money and improve its financial management.

"We just want to thank the district and board for encouraging us to appeal your previous non-renewal decision," said school director Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse. "This appeal period has given us an opportunity to be a stronger organization and work with the district to resolve concerns."

Though the renewal is contingent on several conditions, board members said the
school has made an "amazing turnaround" and strengthened its budget.

Superintendent Carole Smith also recommended keeping the school open and negotiating a three-year contract with conditions.

The East Burnside school, which serves one of the most economically and racially diverse populations among district's charter schools, prepares students for college and entrepreneurship through curriculum, internships and service learning. The school is known for helping students who've struggled in other schools.

Among the school's financial challenges, LEP High's 2007-08 audit showed a deficit of $144,000. Though officials said numbers were better than the audit showed, they conceded a string of difficulties, including lower-than-projected enrollment that decreased the amount of school funding.

LEP High also had five different business managers and fell behind on its public pension payments.

Over the past two months, the school has raised $83,000 in grants and donations as well as $70,000 in grants for next year.

The school has created new three-year budgets based on conservative numbers and contracted with an accounting firm for quarterly reports. It also has budgeted for a full-time business manager.

In the conditions the board and district recommended, LEP High must show it has a plan to eliminate long-term debt. It must create a contingency plan if state revenues decline.

In addition, it must submit quarterly financial documents, hire a full-time business manager and resubmit its budget any time there are significant changes to Oregon's state school fund.

The school also must develop a plan to share some of the innovative instruction methods with other district schools.